… as the medieval round says.

Spring Soirée was wonderful!

Congratulations to all students who performed – so many parents and friends and residents said how much they enjoyed it all, from ukulele groups to classical piano, from Taylor Swift to Piaf.  I keep coming back to how important I think the twice yearly recitals are for students to hear each other and to know they can play well and share their music with family and friends people. I was amazed at how my beginners came and played for the first time.  Well done!  It is also about having a goal to work towards.  Without a goal, it is easy to never prefect a piece or pieces and then have the satisfaction of playing them well even if you simply do that for the family audience!

Thank you so much to Chelsea Daniel who came and performed. Chelsea has been interning for me for the past few weeks and giving my students amazing insights into the music they are playing and reminding me of fundamentals I sometimes let fade into the back of my mind. She reminds me especially about how to practice and maybe she will write something about this for my students! She is available for teaching lessons in July while I am away.  If you are around in July and feel like you would like to take advantage of her expertise this is an opportunity not to be missed.  She will be charging $25 a half hour lesson and this is a short bio:

Chelsea discovered piano at age four upon playing a piano on a trip to Jamaica. Afterwards her father taught her how to play, and a lot of her learning was self taught. She attended Durham School of the Arts from middle school to ninth grade, during part of which time she took lessons from Dr Collingridge to take exams and prepare for her auditions for the UNCSA. She was accepted into the University of North Carolina School of the Arts where she attended until her twelfth year of high school. Chelsea studied there with Dmitri Shteinberg and is now currently at the University of Texas Austin studying with Andrew Brownell. Chelsea was selected to play in multiple master classes at UNCSA with notable artists and competed state-wide when she was young.

and here are Chelsea’s contact details:

Chelsea Daniel 

107 West Trinity Ave

Durham NC 27701

919-667-8214

Lessons are now on a reduced summer schedule which you can see under Summer Schedule.

This does not mean everyone listed is coming every week – I have a weekly calendar which tells me that and I will send reminders. Some parents and students owe June fees and given that I am leaving relatively soon it would be great if everyone settled up for June this week. Thanks so much to those who have already done this.

I am renaming the Spring Schedule as the tentative Fall schedule until everyone let’s me know what changes need to be made.

Looking forward to a great summer with students and then with my daughter and grandson in London in July!